Method and apparatus of requesting customized location information at a mobile station

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus of processing a call are disclosed. One example method may include receiving a request at a server for dealer information. The request may be initiated by a user via his or her mobile station. The example method may also include determining whether there is user preference information and user location information included in the request. The information may be used to limit the amount of search results to increase relevancy. The method may also include searching a database for at least one dealer based on the user preference information and the user location information, and transferring the at least one dealer information to the user.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present patent application is a continuation of and claims priorityfrom patent application Ser. No. 14/860,989, titled METHOD AND APPARATUSOF REQUESTING CUSTOMIZED LOCATION INFORMATION AT A MOBILE STATION, filedSep. 22, 2015, which is a continuation of and claims priority frompatent application Ser. No. 14/644,240, titled METHOD AND APPARATUS OFREQUESTING CUSTOMIZED LOCATION INFORMATION AT A MOBILE STATION, filedMar. 11, 2015, now issued U.S. Pat. No. 9,143,895, which is acontinuation of and claims priority from patent application Ser. No.13/731,169, titled METHOD AND APPARATUS OF REQUESTING CUSTOMIZEDLOCATION INFORMATION AT A MOBILE STATION, filed Dec. 31, 2012, nowissued U.S. Pat. No. 8,983,503, which is a continuation of and claimspriority from patent application Ser. No. 12/941,342, titled METHOD ANDAPPARATUS OF REQUESTING CUSTOMIZED LOCATION INFORMATION AT A MOBILESTATION, filed Nov. 8, 2010, now issued U.S. Pat. No. 8,412,235, theentire contents of each of which are enclosed by reference herein intheir entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a method and apparatus of providing users ofmobile stations with geographically relevant information in response tothe users' requests.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

As a convenience for users operating mobile stations, and as anopportunity for marketers and wireless service providers, the process ofproviding geographically relevant information to those mobile stationsis an increasingly popular service. The relevancy and/or accuracy of themarketing information is an important factor in the overall users'satisfaction when operating their mobile stations.

Conventional attempts to provide mobile advertising and directoryassistance information to mobile stations offer limited convenience tothe users. For instance, a user of a mobile station operating within apredefined geographical area does not normally need information aboutstore locations and/or savings opportunities from geographical areasoutside of a given radius. Furthermore, delivery of such advertisinginformation must be simple and easy for the user to access.

Existing services also fail to provide practical distribution channelsfor publishing advertising and directory assistance information forretrieval by a mobile station. Location-specific mobile advertising andrelated directory information must be provided to mobile stations in aninteractive and simple manner. Furthermore, the accuracy of suchinformation may be increased by a simple and interactive automated voiceresponse menu that the user may access via his or her mobile station.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One embodiment of the present invention may include a method ofprocessing a call. The method may include receiving a request at aserver for dealer information, determining whether there is userpreference information and user location information included in therequest, searching a database for at least one dealer based on the userpreference information and the user location information, andtransferring the at least one dealer information to the user.

Another example embodiment of the present invention may include anapparatus configured to process a call. The apparatus may include areceiver configured to receive a request for dealer information. Theapparatus may also include a processor configured to determine whetherthere is user preference information and user location informationincluded in the request, and search a database for at least one dealerbased on the user preference information and the user locationinformation. The apparatus may also include a transmitter configured totransfer the at least one dealer information to the user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example flow diagram of caller request processing,according to example embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates another example flow, diagram of caller requestprocessing, according to example embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example flow diagram of caller voice andinteractive response processing, according to example embodiments of thepresent invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates another example flow diagram of caller voice andinteractive response processing, according to example embodiments of thepresent invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates yet another example flow diagram of caller voice andinteractive response processing, according to example embodiments of thepresent invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example network entity configured to perform thefeatures of the applications and related call processing modules,according to example embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

It will be readily understood that the components of the presentinvention, as generally described and illustrated in the figures herein,may be arranged and designed in a wide variety of differentconfigurations. Thus, the following detailed description of theembodiments of a method, apparatus, and system, as represented in theattached figures, is not intended to limit the scope of the invention asclaimed, but is merely representative of selected embodiments of theinvention.

The features, structures, or characteristics of the invention describedthroughout this specification may be combined in any suitable manner inone or more embodiments. For example, the usage of the phrases “exampleembodiments”, “some embodiments”, or other similar language, throughoutthis specification refers to the fact that a particular feature,structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodimentmay be included in at least one embodiment of the present invention.Thus, appearances of the phrases “example embodiments”, “in someembodiments”, “in other embodiments”, or other similar language,throughout this specification do not necessarily all refer to the samegroup of embodiments, and the described features, structures, orcharacteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or moreembodiments.

In addition, while the term “message” has been used in the descriptionof embodiments of the present invention, the invention may be applied tomany types of network data, such as packet, frame, datagram, etc. Forpurposes of this invention, the term “message” also includes packet,frame, datagram, and any equivalents thereof. Furthermore, while certaintypes of messages and signaling are depicted in exemplary embodiments ofthe invention, the invention is not limited to a certain type ofmessage, and the invention is not limited to a certain type ofsignaling.

According to example embodiments of the present invention a locatorservice may provide callers or users of a mobile station with aconvenient way to obtain information about businesses and/or specificdealer locations within a given geographical area. The area of interestto the user may be identified by a telephone area code, a town name oridentifier and/or a U.S. postal zip code. When a user is present in aparticular area and/or decides to acquire information about dealers orother services in that particular area, the user may initiate anapplication on his or her mobile station in an effort to obtain suchinformation.

One example may include the user initiating a particular application onhis or her mobile station, which prompts the user to enter geographicalpreferences, such as, a zip code, the type of information desired(stores, hotels, restaurants, medical facilities, etc.). The informationmay be forwarded to a remote server which processes the request, obtainsthe necessary information and sends the information message back to theuser.

The information may be requested by entering text into a graphical userinterface (GUI) associated with the user application. Alternatively, theuser may be unable to enter the information with his or her hands andmay require access to a speech-to-text application or text-to-speechapplication depending on the circumstances. The requested informationmay be converted from text to speech and the audio may be forwarded tothe user's mobile station. For example, pre-recorded voice slots or TTS(text-to-speech) slots may used to represent a variety of differentinformation and forwarded to the user in the form of a phone call, voicemail, and/or streaming audio. The type of information that can beprovided to users/callers may include, but is not limited to, the nameof a retailer/dealer, an address, driving directions to a location, aphone number, hours of operation, special offers, coupons, etc. The usermay access such an interface via a web page accessible through a webbrowser or other Internet portal.

The example embodiments described herein are not limited to mobilestations and may be applied to land-line callers, Internet transactionsinitiated from any computing device (personal computer (PC), handheldcomputer, server, etc.). Dealers may include, but are not limited to:businesses, retailers, stores, hospitals, parks, services, governmentaffiliates, etc.

According to example embodiments of the present invention, a dealerlocator service may provide the user of a mobile station with a varietyof information services. Some examples of those services may includeproviding the user with a number of locations for a given request (i.e.,10 locations may be found for each request), based on a U.S. zip code,Canadian zip code and/or a distance radius. Other examples may includeinformation that is provided to the caller using pre-recorded voiceslots and/or text-to-speech (TTS) audio.

Voice slots containing information about each dealer/location may berecorded using a voice talent chosen by the client for the application.Callers may elect to repeat information already heard, listen toinformation about additionally discovered locations and/or choose tosearch in a different area by supplying a different zip code. A standarddealer locator module may be part of a remote server that accepts acaller's request message. The caller may input a request by voice and/ortouchtone dialed digits, and may not require confirmation of themessage's receipt. The request may include user location information anduser preference information.

According to example embodiments of the present invention, the standarddealer locator module may use global grammars to recognize utterancesmade by a caller, such as, “help”, “assistant”, “agent”, “main menu”,etc., in addition to the prompt-specific dial-pad or touchtone inputsmade on the user's mobile station. Control may be returned to thelocation application once the user's input command is recognized. Theglobal grammars may be deactivated and/or replaced by a custom grammardesignated by a specific application.

The standard dealer locator module may use randomly selected standardapology messages when the caller does not provide input that isrecognized. The apology message (e.g. “Sorry, I didn't get that”) may beplayed before the caller is re-prompted to enter an input command orrequest. A standard zip/postal code module may be used by the standarddealer locator module to identify the inputted postal code and returnsearch results that are within the defined geographical area. Thestandard zip/postal code module may accept dial-pad touchtone and/orvoice input from the caller, and may require confirmation of theinputted information. The standard dealer locator service may be able toutilize a custom web service to obtain dealer information as needed.Such a web service may provide a way to support Canadian postal codes aswell as U.S. zip codes.

A database may be used to store and access various information on areacodes, zip codes, and country codes, according to example embodiments ofthe present invention. Other information provided by the database mayinclude city names, states, countries, longitude, latitude, time-zones,etc. In operation, the status returned from the database may include an“OK” that the requested record was found and returned, a “NONE” that therequested record was not found, an “ERROR” that the request was notunderstood, and/or a “TIMEOUT” that the request was not received. Anexample of a “TIMEOUT” message would indicate that a response was notreceived within an acceptable amount of time, typically, a number ofseconds upon expiration would result in a “TIMEOUT” indication message.

A dealer locator service may be accessed per a caller's request. Theservice may be an application operating a particular server and accessedvia a port number “xxxx” on the server. The dealer locator serviceutilizes a database that resides on the same or a remote server, whichperforms the appropriate calculations and database requests to locatethe dealer or dealers within the requested proximity.

Example of status commands returned from the dealer locator service mayinclude “OK” found dealer(s) within requested range, “NONEFOUND” nodealers were found within the radius specified, “INVALID” invalid zipcode (not found in table), “BADNUM” not a 5 digit zip code, “BADTYPE”the key type must be specified as ZIP or number plan area (NPA) (i.e.,area code “XYZ”), “BADRAD” bad radius, it must be a number, “INVTABLE”the specified table was not found in the database, “TIMEOUT” a networktimeout was detected, etc.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example flow diagram of caller request processing,according to example embodiments of the present invention. Referring toFIG. 1, a caller may request dealer information by accessing anapplication or calling a telephone number via his or her mobile station.Initially, the caller's request is received at operation 101 where theuser request enters the application module function. The applicationmodule determines whether there is a zip code included in the request atoperation 102. If the zip code is not included, a postal code collectionmodule will be accessed to obtain a zip code by initiating a callerprompt request, at operation 103. The zip code will be examined foraccuracy at operation 104 and a return to application operation isperformed at operation 106. If the zip code was received the dealerlookup operation will begin at operation 107.

Operation 107 of FIG. 1 determines whether the type of lookup operationto be performed is a custom or standard type of operation. Depending onthe type of operation, a custom or standard web service will be accessedat operations 108 and 109, respectively. The lookup operation may beperformed based on a telephone number, which may be provided by theuser, retrieved from a database user account record, and/or extractedfrom automatic number identification (ANI) services (ANI information,etc.). A determination as to whether the web service is custom orstandardized may be performed at the time the application is created fora specific client purpose. The standard web service retrieves data froma pre-populated database. A custom web service may be used for aparticular client application where the customer does not desire to havetheir client data stored in a database operated by a third party, or,where the client's data is not compatible with a particular dealerlocator lookup service.

The search is then performed for the dealer(s) based on the user'sselections, at operation 110. If no dealer is found, then a prompt isplayed for the user, such as, “sorry, there are no dealers in thatarea”, at operation 113. The caller may then be prompted to try anothersearch request at operation 114, and the application is restarted atoperation 106.

When a dealer is located based on the callers request, a message may beplayed for the caller, such as, “I found “X” number of dealers”, beforeproviding additional options for selecting any one or more of thoseresults, at operation 111. Additional options provided by thecontinuation of call handling procedures in FIG. 2 may also be accessedat operation 112. If a hangup of the call is detected at any time, theapplication may be restarted at operation 106. Certain options from theoperations provided in FIG. 2 may also restart the application processillustrated in FIG. 1, at operation 105.

FIG. 2 illustrates additional menu options according to exampleembodiments of the present invention, Referring to FIG. 2, beginningwith operation 112 of FIG. 1, the dealer information may be retrievedbased on the caller's preferences and/or selections and a text-to-speech(TTS) application may also be used to play the audio information to thecaller, at operation 202. The text-to-speech application may be enabledwhen a timeslot is unavailable. If the information is successfullyretrieved at operation 203, then the dealer location information andrelated information may then be played to the caller, at operation 205.

Once the caller has received the requested information, the caller maythen opt to hear additional information about dealers at operation 206.If the user selects to hear additional dealer information, the messagemay be played, such as, “repeat that, next location, or try anotherarea.” The user can also say “main menu”, or, the user is done, “justhang up”, at operation 208. Alternatively, if the caller does not haveadditional dealers to explore, the same menu option may be offered, atoperation 207. If the user has additional dealers to explore, those nextdealers/locations may be accessed, at operation 209. The user's locationmay be automatically determined and applied to the location-basedoperations via a GPS enabled device, such as, the user's mobile station.If the user wants to start over with a new location, the menu options ofFIG. 1 may be accessed via operation 210. If a hangup is detected at anytime the call is finished, at operation 211.

FIG. 3 illustrates examples of the voice processing audio and userfeedback provided in the example dealer location menus, according toexample embodiments of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 3,following from operation 114 of FIG. 1, when the caller is prompted withan audio message of “would you like to try a different one?”, the callermay respond by voice and/or touch pad dual tone multiple frequency(DTMF) signaling (phone buttons), at operation 301. When a no-input orno-match response is received, additional options may be randomlyselected, such as, offering touch pad options instead of voicerecognition response options and vice versa, at operations 303 and 304.When a user response is recognized, the menu options are complete, atoperation 302. There is a return to application operation performed whenno response is received or the selections are completed, at operation305.

FIG. 4 illustrates examples of the voice processing audio and userfeedback provided in the example dealer location menus, according toexample embodiments of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 4,following from operation 208 of FIG. 2, when the caller is prompted withan audio message of “repeat that, next location, or try another area”,the caller may respond by voice and/or touch pad DTMF signaling (phonebuttons), at operation 401. When a no-input or no-match response isreceived, additional options may be randomly selected, such as, offeringtouch pad options instead of voice recognition response options and viceversa, at operations 402 and 404. When a user response is recognized,the menu options are complete, at operation 403. There is a continuationwith the call logic operations performed when no response is received orthe selections are completed, at operation 405. For example, the clientapplication may return the caller to the main menu, transfer the callerto an agent, and/or play a “goodbye” message before disconnecting thecaller, etc.

FIG. 5 illustrates examples of the voice processing audio and userfeedback provided in the example dealer location menus, according toexample embodiments of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 5,following from operation 207 of FIG. 2, when the caller is prompted withan audio message of “repeat that or try another area”, the caller mayrespond by voice and/or touch pad DTMF signaling (phone buttons), atoperation 501. When a no-input or no-match response is received,additional options may be selected, such as, offering touch pad optionsinstead of voice recognition response options and vice versa, atoperations 502 and 504. When a user response is recognized, the menuoptions are complete, at operation 503. There is a return to applicationoperation performed when no response is received or the selections arecompleted, at operation 505.

The operations of a method or algorithm described in connection with theembodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in acomputer program executed by a processor, or in a combination of thetwo. Additionally, multiple separate computer software programs may beimplemented and linked together to form a series of programs performingrespective subsets routines and operations.

A computer program may be embodied on a computer readable medium, suchas a storage medium. For example, a computer program may reside inrandom access memory (“RAM”), flash memory, read-only memory (“ROM”),erasable programmable read-only memory (“EPROM”), electrically erasableprogrammable read-only memory (“EEPROM”), registers, hard disk, aremovable disk, a compact disk read-only memory (“CD-ROM”), or any otherform of storage medium known in the art.

An exemplary storage medium may be coupled to the processor such thatthe processor may read information from, and write information to, thestorage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integralto the processor. Multiple databases and/or storage mediums may be usedto store the computer programs, and may incorporate replication toensure system stability. The processor and the storage medium may residein an application specific integrated circuit (“ASIC”). In thealternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discretecomponents. For example FIG. 6 illustrates an example network element600, which may embody and incorporate any of the above-describedapplication features.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, a memory 610 and a processor 620 may bediscrete components of the network entity 600 that are used to executean application or set of operations. The application may be coded insoftware in a computer language understood by the processor 620, andstored in a computer readable medium, such as, the memory 610.Furthermore, a software module 630 may be another discrete entity thatis part of the network entity 600, and which contains softwareinstructions that may be executed by the processor 620. In addition tothe above noted components of the network entity 600, the network entity600 may also have a transmitter and receiver pair configured to receiveand transmit communication signals (not shown).

While preferred embodiments of the present invention have beendescribed, it is to be understood that the embodiments described areillustrative only and the scope of the invention is to be defined solelyby the appended claims when considered with a full range of equivalentsand modifications (e.g., protocols, hardware devices, software platformsetc.) thereto.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: receiving a request at aserver for business information from an application on a user's wirelessdevice; when at least one of user preference information and userlocation information are not included in the request, prompting theuser, by the server, via the user's wireless device, for theinformation, the information for the business related to the userpreference information and the user location information; searching adatabase for the business based on the user preference information andthe user location information; after the user has received the businessinformation, receiving a request for additional business informationfrom the user, via the user's wireless device, and providing the userwith the additional business information comprising at least onelocation for a business proximate to the predefined area; andtransferring the business information, by the server, via the user'swireless device, to the user via a voice call, streaming audio, atext-to-speech application, or any combination thereof; wherein whenthere are no businesses located within a predefined area of a locationidentified by the user location information, prompting the user to tryanother search request.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the userlocation information comprises a zip code, an area code, a GlobalPositioning System (GPS) determined user location, or any combinationthereof.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the additional businessinformation is stored in the database.
 4. The method of claim 3, whereinthe additional business information comprises different locationbusiness information.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the request issent as a voice command and processed as a speech-to-text application.6. An apparatus, comprising: a receiver configured to receive a requestfor business information from an application on a user's wirelessdevice; a processor configured to: prompt the user, via the user'swireless device, for the information when at least one of userpreference information and user location information is not included inthe request, the business information related to the user preferenceinformation and the user location information, search a database for thebusiness based on the user preference information and the user locationinformation, and receive a request for additional business informationfrom the user, via the user's wireless device, and provide the user withthe additional business information that comprises at least one locationfor a business proximate to the predefined area after the user hasreceived the business information; and a transmitter configured totransfer the business information to the user, via the user's wirelessdevice, via a voice call, streaming audio, a text-to-speech application,or any combination thereof; wherein the processor is configured toprompt the user to try another search request when there are nobusinesses located within a predefined area of a location identified bythe user location information.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein theuser location information comprises a zip code, an area code, a GlobalPositioning System (GPS) determined user location, or any combinationthereof.
 8. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the additional businessinformation is stored in the database.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8,wherein the additional business information comprises different locationbusiness information.
 10. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the requestis sent as a voice command and processed as a speech-to-textapplication.
 11. A non-transitory computer readable storage mediumcomprising instructions for: receiving a request at a server forbusiness information from an application on a user's wireless device;when at least one of user preference information and user locationinformation are not included in the request, prompting the user, by theserver, via the user's wireless device, for the information, theinformation for the business related to the user preference informationand the user location information; searching a database for the businessbased on the user preference information and the user locationinformation; after the user has received the business information,receiving a request for additional business information from the user,via the user's wireless device, and providing the user with theadditional business information comprising at least one location for abusiness proximate to the predefined area; and transferring the businessinformation, by the server, via the user's wireless device, to the uservia a voice call, streaming audio, a text-to-speech application, or anycombination thereof; wherein when there are no businesses located withina predefined area of a location identified by the user locationinformation, prompting the user to try another search request.
 12. Thenon-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein therequest is sent as a voice command and processed as a speech-to-textapplication.
 13. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium ofclaim 11, wherein the user location information comprises a zip code, anarea code, a Global Positioning System (GPS) determined user location,or any combination thereof.
 14. The non-transitory computer readablestorage medium of claim 11, wherein the additional business informationis stored in the database and comprises different location businessinformation.